Thursday, April 30, 2009

When the Supper Club members are invited to be guest judges at a regional barbecue contest, they accept the invitation faster than you can say "hog heaven." But the barbecue festival's family-oriented, finger-licking fun turns sour when a contestant is found dead. Things go from bad to worse when one of the five friends is accused of the murder and lands in jail. The strained relationship between James and Lucy is still no picnic, but the Supper Club members must stick together to find the real killer. (From B&N)

Another wonderful addition to the Supper Club Mysteries!!! I liked that this book took place out of town, at the Hog Fest. I love Quincys Gap, but it was nice to have a little change of scenery and see how the Flab Five worked out of their hometown!!! The secondary characters in this book were terrific, I have to just say that Jimmy was so well described I could pick him out anywhere if I were to ever *see* him....haha I truly love this series, and am so curious to see where the next book in the series will take us......in all aspects!!! :) 5/5

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

At 24, Ivy Morris has never lived outside her father’s home and in fact sleeps in the same room her mom decorated over a decade ago. Until she gets a letter with the words "your inheritance" offering her a home and a costume shop of her own 3000 miles away.

But when she arrives to assume her new life she is bombarded by a slew of people looking for the perfect dominatrix or disturbingly tight wrestler costume for the upcoming Harvest Ball. Between overpowering biddies and stolen lingerie from the worst-kept secret side business, things get even more complicated when a woman is murdered at the ball-a woman wearing the same costume as Ivy.

With the help of her new friends and a cute guy trying to rev up his journalism career with this mystery, and revving up her heart in the process, she must solve the murder before someone succeeds in their quest to POISON IVY. (From B&N)

I absolutely LOVED this book, which is the first in a series by Misty Simon. I term it a romantic comedy with a side of mystery and I thought it was fantastic. A super fast read that had me laughing out loud with the antics of Ivy, Bella and Ben, along with a slew of other secondary characters. In Ivy I found a character who was real and could be my best friend, she is far from perfect, but someone you just want to know more about. The push/pull relationship brewing between her and Ben was a trip to read about and definitely left me wanting more!!! Such a quick and easy read, I didn't want to put it down because I wanted to see what could possibly happen to Ivy next!! Loved this book, and highly recommend it to those who want a chuckle!!!! 5/5

Monday, April 27, 2009

Fifi Cutter is an acerbic, bi-racial twenty-something, with family issues and a delightfully cynical world view. Just fired from her boring, but steady job at Colchester Casualty, she is barely making it as an independent insurance adjustor when her freeloading half-brother, Bosco Dorff, shows up with the news that their Uncle Ted has been murdered. Fifi is hired to investigate. Ted was an insurance broker to the stars–porn stars. Posing as grief counselors, Fifi and Bosco interrogate a colorful array of suspects, including Ted’s smoking hot mistress, his portly assistant, and his deadly competition, Corazon Villareal. Fifi zips around LA to check out the various and vaguely guilty suspects -- all classic LA characters. When Bosco disappears, however, Fifi is catalysed into immediate action, finding the unlikely killer and gaining an unlikely accomplice. (From B&N)

This was just an okay read for me! While I really enjoyed the zaniness of Fifi and Bosco, I wasn't overly thrilled with the story. I felt there was some information included that could have been left out as it didn't really have much to do with the plot and seemed to be filler material, which really wasn't needed. I will definitely give the 2nd book a try because although it wasn't one of my favorite cozy reads, it was entertaining and enjoyable enough to warrant another peek into the lives of Fifi and Bosco!!! 3/5

Saturday, April 25, 2009

In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though—especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville. (From B&N)

As with all of the other books in this series, this one ends with quite the cliffhanger, so I see myself reading #5 sometime in the very near future!!! :) I love that new characters are being introduced, but not in huge amounts so you lose track of who's who!!! I loved the suspense of this book surround the *feast* and although I had an inkling of what would happen, the actual deliverance of the scene really delivered!!! Great book, great series, highly recommended!!!! 5/5

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I want to take a minute to apologize to those who take the time to read my blog, life is crazy these days and I haven't been keeping up very well. I am trying to find time to just sit and update this week, so please bear with me and know I will be back up and running soon...........I hope!!!! :)

Monday, April 6, 2009

As a child, Bobbie Lee found refuge from her lonely life at her best friend's house. Rockhaven was a place of magic, colored by the butterflies that Cincy Jaines's mother, Lenora, studied. Her friendship with Cincy and Lenora soon became Bobbie's compass. But the tangled intimacies between them began to unravel, and in one night, Rockhaven became a place of unspeakable tragedy.Now, a decade later, the long shadows of that night continue to haunt Bobbie, despite her attempts to hide from the past. When a stranger with ties to Lenora and Cincy arrives at her doorstep, she is forced to confront the memories she has tried to avoid, and the dark secret at the heart of the tragedy slowly emerges.

I absolutely loved this book. It's been sitting on my TBR mountain for far too long before picking it up!!!! The time jumps between when Bobbie was a young girl/teenager to present day as an adult to tell a well rounded story of the shared love between the women in the story. It was captivating and emotional and just a wonderful story!!!!! The characters were so well developed, I felt as if they could have been sitting next to me telling me their story as opposed to my reading about it. A fantastic book - one that should not be missed!!!!! 5/5

ON YOUR MARK. Natalie Page is overlooked and unappreciated. Yeah, sure, she can run fast. Yeah, sure, all the boys love her...as a buddy. Yeah, she has plans every weekend night...with her friends and their boyfriends. GET SET. It's time for the world to sit up and take notice. When Natalie makes the varsity cross country team, it seems like the fast track to being cool. The popular girls notice her, the hunky captain of the boys team is giving her rides home. Natalie Page is off and running. Then she starts to fail geometry. She has to get a tutor: a very annoying boy who thinks sports is for idiots. A very smart boy who thinks she's stupid. A very cute boy who already has a girlfriend and has no interest in her. A boy she told her parents she was dating. GO! Natalie Page can run. Now she has to decide how to finish...

Super fast, super cute YA read!!! Very light and fluffy, a battle between the jocks and the brains. I really enjoyed this read, it was a perfect in between book for me to segway a suspense novel to a heavier women's fiction. 3.5/5

When a homeless veteran is found dead in a squalid Sacramento alley, FBI special agent Megan Elliott vows to find the murdered hero’s killer. Her investigation gets complicated fast, for the victim, a former Delta Force soldier, is just one link in a nationwide spree of torture and murder.

Straight off a job rescuing medical missionaries, soldier-for-hire Jack Kincaid returns to his home base in the Texas border town of Hidalgo only to receive the news that one of his closest colleagues–also ex-military–has been brutally murdered. Faced with an inept local police force, Jack takes matters into his own hands.

Now, as part of a national task force to stop the sadistic killings, by-the-book Megan and burn-the-book Jack form a tense alliance, sparked with conflict and temptation. But they struggle against more than passion, for a vicious pair of killers has only just begun a rampage of evil . . . and the primary target is much closer than Megan suspects.

Although this book took me close to 150 pages to really get into (mostly because I was crazy busy and not feeling well) once I got into it I didn't want to put it down!!! Lots of suspense, and action, and wondering going on in this 1st in a triology by Ms. Brennan!! I finished the last 300 pages or so in 1/2 the time it took to get into the first 150, definitely one of those hard to put down books!!! Great book, I really look forward to the next in this trilogy!! :) 4/5